Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Hungaroring, 2018

Verstappen not sure Red Bull will be in pole position fight

2018 Hungarian Grand Prix

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Max Verstappen says he isn’t sure Red Bull will be in the fight for pole position at the Hungaroring, a track which was expected to favour them.

Sebastian Vettel beat Verstappen to the fastest time in the second practice session by seven-hundredths of a second. Both Red Bulls were in the top three in both sessions but Verstappen expects a “difficult” fight at the front this weekend.

“The car was good but we still lose quite a lot on the straight unfortunately,” Verstappen told Sky. “It’s difficult to stay at the moment. I think we can improve our car a little bit more but if it’s going to be good enough for pole position I’m not sure.”

Red Bull believe they lose around half a second per lap in qualifying trim compared to their rivals.

Mercedes were seven-tenths of a second off the quickest time in second practice but Verstappen does not believe this reflects what they’re capable of.

“I think Mercedes, they couldn’t get a lap on the ultra, they both went a bit wide or whatever. “So I’m expecting them to be there as well tomorrow.”

“Ferrari looks quick,” he added. “In the long run as well Mercedes look competitive. It will be close but it all depends on qualifying.”

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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8 comments on “Verstappen not sure Red Bull will be in pole position fight”

  1. digitalrurouni
    27th July 2018, 16:10

    Vettel > Max > Rai > Dani > Bottas > Hamilton is how I predict it would be for quali this weekend.

    1. Vettel > Rai > Lewis >Bottas >Max > Ric is how I see it.

      1. well if we are playing that game

        Vettel, Bottas, Ham, Rai, Verstappen, Ric

        1. Even I want to play

          VET > VER > RIC > RAI > HAM > BOT

          The only reason Raikonnen will finish behind the Red bulls is because Ferrari will sacrifice his strategy to help Vettel secure P1.

          1. digitalrurouni
            27th July 2018, 19:02

            hah fun game but I was just talking about qualifying. I think I agree with you about sacrificing Kimi for Vettel will take place during the race. But Ferrari seem so strong and the track temps are so high it’s a no brainer for them to have a 1-2 in the race result.

    2. HAM, VET, VER, RAI, RIC .
      Bottas will crash out.

  2. They are always close on fridays but very far on saturdays, so I’m not expecting them to even get a the front row start!

  3. Max was talking about “a different category” again referring to the power deficit.

    It’s a shame his redbull is so down in power in qualy. This really holds him back

Comments are closed.